Thomas and Sienna had the night for themselves. They were celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary and took their time to recall all those precious moments they have shared throughout the years, wishing each other many more to come.
As per tradition, they got ready to take a photo that would be placed on the mantelpiece, but as the camera’s timer counted down, Sienna thought she heard a soft sound in the hallway behind her. Assuring her it was nothing, Thomas hugged her and they smiled for yet another photo of a year spent together.
Sienna posted the photo on the social media, not assuming it would later lead to something unimaginable.
The following morning, she was woken up by the sound of pinging. She grabbed her phone as notifications came one after another. Most of them were comments from people wishing them a happy anniversary, but there were also those that kept asking whose face it was in the background of the photo.
Upon further inspection, Sienna realized there was indeed a face on the picture they had taken the previous night. She told Thomas about it but he was convinced it was just a shadow that resembled a face.
However, Sienna wasn’t at peace. She remembered that she heard a sound at the moment the photo was taken, so she asked Thomas to inspect the house, just in case.
As the two headed towards the car and Sienna was about to get inside, she spotted the same eerie face on the car’s window but was too scared to say a word. She then screamed and turned around, but there was no one behind her.
He grabbed the phone in one hand and his gun in the other.
“We can’t call 911 for a ghost!” Sienna argued, but he still called 911.
But how did he end up in their home?
“Hey there, it’s okay. We won’t hurt you,” Thomas said with a gentle voice.
“You’re hungry, right?” Sienna asked, grinning tenderly.
“Hungry, yes,” the boy nodded.
“What’s your name?”
“Nikolai.”
At that moment, the police that Thomas had previously called arrived at their door. This scared the boy and he fled before they could catch him.
The following day, Sienna and Thomas went looking for Nikolai. They knew he couldn’t have gone far.
As they were wandering around the neighborhood, they spotted an abandoned Victorian house.
They took her out, and soon after, Nikolai emerged from the basement.
“What about the man who did this?” Sienna asked.
“We’ve already sent officers to arrest him at his job. Nikolai and Asya will be taken to a safe place. It seems she came here from Russia as some kind of mail-order bride. The legality of her immigrant status is unknown at this point, but we’ll ensure they get the help they need,” the officers responded.
“I believe the latest photo for the mantle deserves a special place,” Thomas told his wife, holding up a framed print of the now-infamous photo the couple had posted on social media.